Diary Of How CBS Halted Another Trek Fan Production

Anyone who talked to Tommy Kraft in February heard the same thing: He’s finishing and releasing his fan-film, “Star Trek: Horizon,” and then he’s done with Trek fan-films.

Who could blame him? Kraft’s valentine to “Star Trek: Enterprise” was an arduous undertaken he did for less than $50,000, and some three years of his own blood, sweat and tears to get the film out. But since releasing “Horizon” on YouTube at the end of February, the fan-film has topped 1 million views. And those who watched it wanted to see more.

“I always wanted to move into original features, and I was going to do that after ‘Horizon,'” Kraft told 1701News. “I fully planned to do that, and I had stuff that I was ready to do. Then I was convinced to do the ‘Horizon’ sequel, and I decided to put the other stuff on the back burner and move forward with a ‘Horizon 2.'”

The sequel had its own name, however, “Star Trek: Federation Rising.” And unlike his first film, done with a small green screen in his parents’ Michigan basement, Kraft wanted to take his work to Hollywood. He set a $250,000 budget, and was just days from launching a crowdfunding campaign to make it happen.